


the wild chance of living

by stationlittle



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 18:50:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8172116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stationlittle/pseuds/stationlittle
Summary: Shepard, Tali and Miranda are stuck inside a bunker.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Mass Effect Poly Week. This was requested by an anon.   
> The title comes from the poem "Another Spring" by Denise Levertov.  
> zimmbittsy on tumblr did the betareading, thank you so much!

"This is just... great," Miranda said while staring at the panel, now covered in smoke.

The mission hadn't gone exactly as planned. They had been investigating some intel regarding the Collectors, which led them to a bunker on a colony in the Terminus System. As soon as they got inside, Shepard knew something wasn't right. His instinct was telling him to run away, that it was a trap... And he was right, but it was too late. He was about to tell Miranda and Tali to turn around when an alarm sounded and all the doors inside the bunker closed.

He tried contacting Joker. No signal.

They were on their own.

Miranda began investigating an electrical panel, convinced she could fix the problem in a minute, completely ignoring Tali telling her to stop.  
A screaming match ensued, one of them was too hasty in touching the panel, and a few seconds later smoke billowed out of it.

Shepard just stared at the two of them, a long sigh escaping his lips.

"I know. Don’t stare at me like that, I know," Miranda said.

"Shouldn't have touched it, I told you!" Tali cried out.

"Okay how about we-" he started, ready to stop the fight before it started again.

Miranda didn't even hear him, she was so focused on Tali.

"It wouldn't have been a problem if you had let me fix it! We would be out by now!"

"Ah," Tali replied, with a scoff. "I don't think so."

He could feel a headache coming on. Not for the first time, he wondered how the two people he liked the most in this entire universe could have so many difficulties getting along. But as they continued to bicker, he thought about who could have set the trap. There was a long list of people who hated his guts, that was for sure. The Illusive Man wouldn't have done this because he needed him. He couldn't see anyone from Cerberus going against orders from above either. The Council, maybe? Ah. He had a rocky relationship with them, but he saved them last time (and they were at least somewhat grateful for that!).  
Now, the Alliance. He couldn't really see anyone there trying to kill him, that was absurd. So who was left? Aria? That wouldn't be her style. Something told him she couldn't care less about him.

"And really-" Tali went on, "we all know how perfect you are but that doesn't mean you can do everything. Some of us are actual experts-"

"Guys-"

"Oh, I hardly think one needs to be such a big expert to fix something like this!"

"See what I'm talking about? Keelah, you're such an arrogant-"

It dawned on him then, watching them fight with each other.   
The way they were holding themselves back but still gravitating towards each other? He’d seen it before, many times. It reminded him of his mom and dad, who never knew how to express their feelings well. They loved each other, so much, and it killed them. This was the same, just not fully realized.

Like the beginning of something.

And maybe the ending of something else. He took a step back. He couldn’t help it, he felt sadness all of a sudden. Sadness not to be a part of this, like they were in their own bubble and didn't notice him. He turned around and sat down with his back against the wall. Ignoring the argument, he began thinking of other ways out of the bunker, only turning his attention back to the discussion when Miranda raised her voice.

"You really have no idea what you're talking about!"

"No, I know what I'm talking about!" Tali replied. "You're going to be with him, because you're beautiful and talented and smart and perfect, and obviously he's in love with you! Anyone can see it!"

"Anyone can see he's in love with you!" Miranda fired back.

Wait, what-

"What?" Tali said.

Miranda looked like she was going to cry, alarming him into action. He got up and moved toward her but she put her hand out in front of him. He froze.

"I'm alright, Shepard, just-"

"Miranda," he said.

"No, it's just... It's a complicated situation I know. And we can't change how we all feel. I'm just... This is better if we just talk about it right now and let it all out, right? So no hard feelings later."

He nodded.

"I know you love Tali. And I do too, it's alright. But I... I wish you two the best."

"You love _me?_ "

The words were said with genuine wonder, like she could never have imagined someone having such feelings about her. It was one of the things that made Tali so loveable. She wasn't aware of how amazing she was. Sure, she joked about it sometimes, and he loved this new her who was ready to defend herself at all times, but she had no idea how precious she was, or how much he wanted to hold her and keep her close forever. Apparently, Miranda felt the same.

"Yes," Miranda replied. "I do."   
She turned to look at him. "And I love you, Shepard. I really do."

The words hit him like a ton of bricks. On some level, he knew this. Or thought he knew, because they had had some discussions before. But five minutes ago, he’d been ready to give her up, to be taken out the equation.

He stared at her. Realized he had completely misinterpreted the situation. He glanced at Tali and saw her reaching the same conclusion as him.

"Miranda," Tali said. "I... I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright," Miranda replied. "It happens, it's not... I wish you the best, like I said."

"Miranda," he said, moving forward. He slowly but gently took one of her hands in his. "I love you.”

"You do?"

He smiled, because Tali wasn't the only one who was loveable and precious. He felt so lucky, at this precise moment. "Yeah," he said.

He turned to look at Tali. She moved forward as well.

"I didn't know," Tali said. "I thought... Ah, it doesn't matter now. I like you, Miranda. What am I saying? I love-"

-which was when the doors of the bunker exploded and some krogan he’d never seen before burst inside.

"I have you now!" the krogan screamed. "You thought you could beat us! But you can't! Yes, I tricked you, I, Malek of Clan Vernak, member of the Blue Sun-"

He didn't have time to finish his sentence. Both Miranda and Tali had drawn their guns and shot him.

"Well, at least now we know who did this," came Shepard’s dry remark as the krogan fell on the ground with a loud thud.

Both Miranda and Tali turned their head to look at him. He couldn't see if Tali was smiling, but he was pretty sure she was. Miranda like a huge weight was off her shoulders.

This was good, he thought. This was going to be great.


End file.
